Orutu
Encyclopedia
The orutu is a one-stringed fiddle native to western Kenya, especially amongst the Luo
community.
The term also refers to a genre of music in Kenya which involves this instrument. The instrument is also a central part of the benga
musical genre, with the band Kenge Kenge Orutu System being the most prolific users of the musical instrument.
This musical instrument is played a bit like a violin but has a different, more African sound to it. It is accompanied by drums and singing, but these instruments are not very popular as most of Kenya is quite poor and not many have the money to afford the lessons of music or even afford the instrument. There aren't many teachers of this instrument either.
Luo (family of ethnic groups)
The Luo are an ethnic linguistic group located in an area that stretches from South Sudan and Ethiopia through northern Uganda and eastern Congo , into western Kenya, and ending in the upper tip of Tanzania. These people speak an Eastern Sudanic language, a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language...
community.
The term also refers to a genre of music in Kenya which involves this instrument. The instrument is also a central part of the benga
Benga music
Benga is a genre of Kenyan popular music. It evolved between the late 1940s and late 1960s, in Kenya's capital city of Nairobi. In the 1940s, the African Broadcasting Service in Nairobi aired a steady stream of soukous, South African kwela, Zairean finger-style guitar and various kinds of Cuban...
musical genre, with the band Kenge Kenge Orutu System being the most prolific users of the musical instrument.
This musical instrument is played a bit like a violin but has a different, more African sound to it. It is accompanied by drums and singing, but these instruments are not very popular as most of Kenya is quite poor and not many have the money to afford the lessons of music or even afford the instrument. There aren't many teachers of this instrument either.